Number plate deadline moved
Residents who still have registration number plates ending with N have been given yet another another extension on the deadline to change them to the new L number plate
POLOKWANE – Residents who still have registration number plates ending with N have been given yet another another extension on the deadline to change them to the new L number plate, according to the South African Number Plate Association (SANA).
The process of phasing out the old number plates would initially have taken 10 years, from August 1 2003 to July 31 2013. However thanks to admin complications regarding the government gazette, the final date has been moved on to March 30 2016.
For local transport company owners like Mike Duvenhage the extension of the deadline is frustrating.
“I was forced to make the changes before the initial deadline, only to find that now there is more time. At the time, I had just started my business and had to borrow money to get the registrations done,” he said.
Local number plate producers also said the extension was a problem for them. “It means that I wasted money by buying a new machine for the L number plates.
In the meantime, the machine is standing as no one wants to spend money on new registration number plates until they are absolutely necessary,” one local number plate producer said.
According to transport spokesperson, Mafenya Lediga the department had struggled to have its new registration number plates standardised by the South African Bureau of Standards.
He said the standardisation had now been finalised and notices would be published in the government gazette.
He added that the national department of transport would issue specifications and guidelines to be followed.
